Golf-practicing apparatus



E. MCL. LONG.

GoLFvPRAcTIclNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION F|LED1UL`Y 23,1921.

1,427,538. Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

INVENTOR GOLF-PRAGTLVCN-r APPARATUS.

intenses.

Application tiled July 23,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, EUGENE MOLEAN LONG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Golf-Practicing Apparatus.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, eficient, reliable and durable appa-y ratus which may be` placed on a floor or on the ground or at any convenient location where one wishes to practice a straight drivin stroke either with or without the use of a ba l or similar. article, and thereby form the correct habit of movement in an ecient and satisfactory manner and thereby learn to habitually drive straight. This object is accomplished by my invention, one embodiment of which is hereinafter more particularly set forth.

For a more detailed description of my in, vention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in whic Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved apparatus.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of this apparatus.

Fi ure 4v shows a blank of the end tabs and igure 5 is a perspective view of the tabs.

Figure is a perspective View of the intermediate tabs.

Throughout the. various views of the drawings, similar reference characters designate similar parts.

My improved apparatus 1 consists of a mat 2, and tabs 3 and 4 andan intermediate tab 5.

The mat is preferably made of heavy rubber, or other suitable material, which maybe given any desired dimensions as approximately six inches in width and twenty-three inches in length, and it is provided with suitable perforations 6 along its hcenter line 7 for the tabs 3, 4 and 5. The center line 7 is preferably painted in a color which contrasts with the rest of the mat and is distinct and easily seen. Between the tabs 5 and 4 is a reinforce 8 which is preferably made 'of the same material as the rest of the mat and scoured thereto in any suitable manner, as by being vulcanized. lThe purpose of this reinforce is to protect the tab 5 so that it cannot be sheered b a golf club when the apparatus is in use. this reinforce were omitted, a

Specicationof Letters Patent.

Patented Aug.. 29, 1922.

Serial No. 487,046.

The tabs 3 and 4 are identical in the preferred embodiment of my invnetion and are struck from a blank 9 which has a tongue 10 which runs into the body 11 between two slits 12, and this blank is made out of sheet rubber so that when the tongue 10 is bent, as shown in Figure 5, the body 11 becomes a base and the tongue may be inserted through a slot 6 to form the tab 3 or the tab 4, as shown.

rllhe tab 5 is composed of looped elastic material which is shaped so as to have an upper loop 13, a base loop 14 and projecting ends 15, the loop and ends being held in proper .relationby stitches 16 which also pass through a thickened base 17 of the same or similar elastic webbing.

rom time to time as the tabs 3, 4 and 5 wear out, they may be renewed and replaced by new ones, asis obvious.

in the preferred embodiment of my invention, several holes 6 are provided at the leaving end of the mat V2 so that the person using the apparatus may place the last tab accord'- ing to the length of his swing. As will appear below, it is important that when this apparatus is used, all tabs should be struck by the club so that the stroke will be in the correct form and it may be that asmall person will require a different location of the leaving tab 3 from that which is required by a taller person. ln such an event, rthis tab should be shifted to suit the desires and convenience of the player.

ln view of the foregoing, the use of my improved apparatus will be readily unde`rstood. When it is used, the mat 2 is laid on the floor so that the line 7 indicates the plane in which the golf club should swing and the arrow line shown in Figure 2 indicates substantially the direction of movement of the lower end of the'club. Assuming that the parts are in position and the player draws back his club in the described manner to make a stroke, he then makes the stroke being careful to have his club move at the requisite speed and in the right direction so that all three tabs are struck by the club and made to Wag, and he guides hls direction. Ordinarily, on the golf links, a player gets a chance to make a drive once after leaving each hole, except the last, and at the beginning of the games. This is very infrequent practice. Perhaps in several hours play, an ordinary player Will not get a chance to practice more than twenty or thirty strokes. By the use of this improved apparatus, it is possible to make twenty or thirty strokes in a very few minutes and it is possible to make them rapidly and accurately so as to form the correct stroke habit. This is done Without danger and without diiiiculty and Without the use of any golrI links, or other expensive appliance. Furthermore, each stroke is had without the need of a caddy to recover a ball or any other inconvenient or expensive facility. HOW- ever, if desired, the tab 5 may be removed and a ball substituted and driven for more advanced instruction.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is obviousthat it is not restricted thereto, but that it is broad enough to cover all structures that come Within the scope of the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a mat having a plurality of tabs arising therefrom and a line adjacent to the tabs to indicate the direction and position ofthe stroke When the tabs are properly hit.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a tab 9 composed of a slittedpiece of rubber Which may be bent laterally of the slit to form a tongue 10 and a base 11.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a tab adapted to be secured in a mat, this tab being composed of an elastic looped fabric with stitches for holding the loop in place and a base through which said stitches pass.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a perforated mat with a line thereon to indicate the direction and position of a stroke When the mat is in use, the perforations being adapted to receive tabs. 

